Adding more memory DOES improve performance – to a point. Where that point lies depends on other factors, primarily the tasks you set the machine. For a machine dedicated to a particular task like these, adding more RAM beyond that needed to accomplish the task is basically worthless. For desktop machines however, with which users are constantly interacting and which often run multiple applications at a time, more RAM will help until it becomes large enough that most application data can be cached in it (for a typical ubuntu GNOME desktop this is likely in the 1-2GB range).

Hey, thanks for the mention! I showed up here just doing a search on my blog URL.

Got a small update on the Garage PC: It’s still chuggin! However, I’m building a new machine to take over the task. I live in Canada and the temperatures here can hit -30 degrees. DVD drives don’t work very well when it’s this cold. I usually get at least two of them failing at this point.

So, that’s why I’m building a new one. I’ve actually put some money into modifying a Pentium 200 MHz computer to be more robust for our nasty winters. I’m just waiting for 8G flash drives to drop a bit more in price, add a few hardware modifications, and then the machine will be good to go. I’ll put an update on my blog once it’s finished.